Packing or filling for vessels



No. 625,343. Patentld May 23, |8951.-

M. W MARSDEN.

PACKING 0R FILLING FDR VESSELS.

(Application led May 31, 1895.)

(No Model.)

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NiTED 'STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE.

MARK IVORSNOP MARSDEN, OI? PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE MARSDEN COMPANY, OF CAMDEN,

NEW JERSEY.

PACKING OR FILLING FOR VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,343, dated May'23, 1899.

Application ned May s1, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARK WORSNOP MARS- DEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Packings or Fillings for Vessels, Sac., of Which the following is a specication.

In Letters Patent issued to me, No. 534,611, February 19, 1895, I have set forth a packing or filling material forvessels, composed of the pith of Indian-corn stalk. This upon practical trial has proved to be extremely eective, possessing all of and more than the advantages set forth in the specification of the said Letters Patent; but it is open to the objection that it is inflammable and more likely to ignite and to burn rapidly than is desirable in many instances where it could .be employed-as, for instance, between Walls of wood or plank-so that the said material constitutes no bar to the progress of flames, but rather serves to feed the same.

The object of the invention is to not only overcome the difficulty incident to the ready ignition of the said material, but, further, to render it a means of safety, and to this end I treat the particles of pith in such a manner -as to impregnate them with such a material or substance as Will prevent them from burning or readily igniting.

I may employ different means and different materials for impregnating, taking advantage of the fact that the material is extremely porous, so as to be readily penetrable by substances in solution, and I have discovered that when the pith is 'so impregnated it is rendered incom'bustible Without in any Way detracting from its capacity to act as an absorbent material for the purposes specified in my aforesaid Letters Patent or for other purposes. Thus in the first instance I prepare an aqueous solution of sal-ammoniac, alum, sulfate of copper, chlorid of barium,'or other suitable substance, and I introduce the pulverized or comminuted pith into a vessel containing the said substance, when the said Serial No. 551,275. (No model.)

pith will absorb it with great rapidity until completely saturated. The material is then removed from the solution and drained and dried or heated until the moisture is all eXf pended, when the salt or other material that Was in solution will be deposited Within the interstices of the material in sufficient quantity to thoroughly impregnate it throughout its Whole mass. I-have found that after being thus treated the pith is practically incombustible, that it Will not transmit iiame or ignite and gradually smolder, and that therefore it is not only not liable to the 0bjections incident to the use of the material not so treated, but thatV in many instances it may be employed as a filler in walls, floors, or partitions in buildings or other structures in such manner as to practically constitute a iireproof screen, especially when supported by fireproof studding, While it further serves to deaden sound. Further, the material thus treated loses none of the efficiency which it has Without such treatment of absorbing after compression -rapidly large quantities of water and swelling and practically closing openings made through it by shot or otherwise.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a vertical section of part of the partition of a building, and Fig. 2 is a face vievtr showing the manner in which the material may bc employed to constitute a non-combustible packing. v

A A represent the Wooden or metallic studding; a, the Wooden or metallic lath; b, the plaster coating, and O the blocks of prepared pith. It will be understood, however, that the arrangement and disposition of the pith will depend upon the particular application to which it is made.

Vithout limiting myself to the use of any special materialfor impregnating the pith, I claim as my inventionl. The within-described lpreparation as a filler for the hollow Walls of vessels and'other purposes, the same consisting of the pith of Indiancorn stalk impregnated With sal-ammoniac, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the outer and in- In testimony'whereof` have signed my ner Walls or sheathings of a vessel or other name to this 'specification in the presence of structure, of a ller consisting of comminuted two subscribing witnesses.

oornstalk-pith impregnated With a substance MARK WORSNOP MARSDEN. 5 that renders it non-gntble Without destroy- Witnesses:

ing its absorbent property, substantially as EDWIN F. GLENN,

described. l E. A. OoRBIN. 

